


Seeing Red and Gold

by RoRoUrBoat



Series: Pridecember 2020 [5]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Crossdressing, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Transphobia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27903769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoRoUrBoat/pseuds/RoRoUrBoat
Summary: Pridecember Day 5 - RedNo one told Atem how different clothing norms were in the 21st century.
Relationships: Kaiba Seto/Yami Yuugi | Atem
Series: Pridecember 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035744
Comments: 7
Kudos: 16





	Seeing Red and Gold

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, look, it's day 5! I'm on a roll!
> 
> Seriously, though, y'all, this one is... heavier than the last ones. If you're curious, see the end notes.

Atem never had much to be ashamed of. Whether he was the Pharaoh or King of Games, he’d been hailed as a ruler for almost all of his recollection.

Sitting in his room, surrounded by shopping bags he had yet to unpack and the shattered remains of his pride, he felt shame. It ran hot through his veins and coaxed him to cry. But he wouldn’t. He _couldn’t_. If he did, that would mean he’d lost.

  
  


__

  
  


Seto liked schedules. It helped him to feel like everything, no matter how hectic his life got, was under control. Atem understood. He knew how it felt to not know what to do next.

From Seto’s need to schedule his life down to the last hour came weekly date nights. It was usually something simple, like hanging out at the Kaiba Mansion or a fast food place. Atem didn’t need grandiosity, and Seto was willing to oblige.

Because of this lack of typical elegance to their date nights, Atem was wholly unprepared for Seto to text him on Thursday night the quick message, “We’re doing something different tonight. Have something nice ready. Pick-up at seven.”

Seto had texted him at five o’clock. Atem checked his phone at exactly 5:28. 90 minutes to get to the Domino mall, pick out something “nice,” get dressed, and be ready for Seto.

The bastard was playing with him.

Well. Atem hadn’t lost a game to Seto yet, and he wasn’t about to start now. Throwing on Yugi’s school jacket, some black leather pants, and a pair of boots, Atem rushed out of the game shop with a quick “be back soon!” tossed over his shoulder.

He had a game to win.

__

  
  


The Domino mall wasn’t too far from the game shop, and Atem managed to make it there by 5:50. He hadn’t been clothes shopping in… Ever, actually, so he wasn’t exactly sure where to start. Something gold caught his eye in the window of a nearby clothing store and he made a beeline for the entrance. Might as well start somewhere.

Entering the store, he was bombarded by soft pop music and the heavy smell of artificial flowers. Not bad. 

Atem made his way to the shoe section and found exactly what he was looking for within seconds. It must have been a popular model, as it was front and center, modeled stylishly on a mannequin at the front of the aisle. That same gold he’d seen earlier was even more beautiful up close, shining softly in the light of the fluorescents. 

Sandals, close to what he’d worn in Egypt on the surface but so, _so_ different once he picked them up. Soft, silky material met his curious hands and lustrous golden straps wrapped as far up as low shin height.

Trying on the first pair he saw, he was beyond disappointed to find that it didn’t fit. Did that mean he’d have to get his own pair tailored? Gods, he didn’t have anywhere near enough time for that! Sighing, he waved over a saleswoman.

“Miss,” he began, resignation lacing his tone, “how long will it take to order my own pair of these?” The woman tilted her head. Atem cleared his throat. “These don’t fit.” If anything, the woman just looked even more confused.

She hummed, biting her lip and looking around.

“I guess…” she started hesitantly, “the sizes are probably different in-” she looked him up and down, “-the men’s section. You can figure out your size over there.” She pointed to a shelf with several wooden contraptions on it. Atem looked from her to the shelf and back, then walked over. The woman scurried away.

Upon reaching the shelf, Atem grabbed one of the wooden… things. On inspection, it was shaped like a foot and had little numbers etched into it. Was this to measure his foot for tailoring…?

He peered around, but there was no one near him. He shrugged and pulled off one boot, measured his foot, and put the tool back.

Atem went to find the saleswoman again, intending to ask about a tailor properly this time, when he noticed the little boxes under the shelf he’d found the shoes on. Upon closer inspection, he found a picture of identical sandals. He tilted his head, opened up the box, and his face lit up in understanding.

So this era had pre-made, pre-fitted shoes! Perfect!

Atem quickly found a box with his size on it and tried the sandals inside on. His face split into an amazed grin when they fit. Hopping up, he paced around in them. They felt positively luxurious. He checked the price tag, cringed, and shrugged. It wasn’t like he spent his money on anything else.

Replacing the shoes and tucking the box under his arm, Atem went in search for a matching outfit.

It wasn’t hard to find something just as elegant.

What caught Atem’s eye was a red number, flowy and soft with a low neckline. The deep red of the fabric matched perfectly with Atem’s sandals. He smiled his usual self assured smirk at finding such a fitting piece. Maybe he didn’t need practice to be good at this, after all.

He walked down the aisle and grabbed one that looked at long as he was tall and inspected it closer.

The top had long sleeves that ended at his wrists and a thin, same colored belt. It was elegant but simple. It was the bottom that drew him in. Long and sweeping with a slit up the right thigh, it reached easily to his ankles. He grinned when he imagined what Seto would say when he picked Atem up. If Atem was lucky, he might blush. 

Chuckling at the thought, Atem tossed the tunic over his arm and walked to the cash register, the perfect picture of confidence.

Upon reaching the register, he put his choices on the counter and waited for the smiling older lady to ring him up.

“Ah, shopping for your girlfriend?” the woman asked with a knowing smile, gesturing to Atem’s purchases. Atem raised an eyebrow. “Don’t worry,” she continued, “When I was younger, I sent plenty of boyfriends to buy me nice things. Is this a surprise?” Atem’s brow wrinkled in a frown. It was a surprise, yes, but for a girlfriend? Not even close.

“No, ma’am,” Atem answered amicably, his voice coming out far more hesitant than he’d meant it to, “It’s for me.” A breath later, he smiled softly. “You’re right, though. I am surprising someone.” 

The woman stared at him with wide eyes, stopping in her bagging of the tunic and shoes.

“For… You?” she questioned slowly. Atem nodded. The woman shook her head, muttered something under her breath, and sped through the rest of the checkout process.

“Is something the matter?” Atem asked, feeling unbalanced throughout the entire encounter. The woman gave him his bag and a cloyingly sweet smile. “We hope you’ll shop again!” Atem took the hint for what it was and walked off, feeling suddenly dizzy.

As he exited the store, something at the corner of his eye made him turn around. It was a brightly lit store window, displaying all sorts of eye-catching colors and tubes of… Kohl?

Atem pushed his confusion to the side and made his way to the other store. If nothing else, he knew this was right.

Inside of the store, the lights were even brighter and the colors even more eye-catching. Atem started with what was familiar to him. The kohl. He wandered over to a display featuring a woman posing, her eyes surrounded by the black makeup. Nodding to himself, Atem examined all the different bottles on the shelves.

_More color POP! Sexy, elegant liner. Mysterious eyes…_

The advertisements all appealed to him. How was he supposed to pick one? Standing for a moment and considering what he wanted to make Seto feel, a devious smirk came to his lips.

He grabbed the one hailing “sexy liner” and moved on.

The next thing to grab his attention was a poster with close-up, soft lips on it. The lips were painted a similar red to the tunic he’d bought. If he knew nothing else about style, it was that matching colors on the face and body looked good. He grabbed a stick of the “Ruby Red” lipstick and headed for checkout.

The young lady at the register smiled widely at him as she rang up his items. Then, with a grin inexplicably similar to the one of the cashier at the last store, she said something that baffled Atem even further.

“You’re so sweet! I wish my boyfriend would buy makeup for me!” She blushed lightly at that but kept up her grin, obviously expecting a response from Atem. Whatever she wanted, it probably wasn’t the baffled frown Atem gave her.

“I’m… Not quite sure I understand,” Atem managed, suddenly dizzy again. The girl waved her hand, smile faltering only slightly. 

  
“It was just a joke. I mean, if you’re just buying this for your sister or something, that makes sense, too. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

Atem, in the span of a few minutes, went from dizzy and confused to indignant.   
  
“Regardless of your intention,” he said, using his best “I Am The King of Games” voice, “your joke was poor. I don’t understand why I can’t simply be making these purchases for myself.” He swiped his credit card and stared at the girl expectantly, daring her to challenge him.

“Uh…” The girl’s grin had completely broken now, turning into a confused frown. Atem raised his eyebrow, and, seeming to remember herself, the girl bared her teeth in what Atem assumed should have been a smile. “Right…” She didn’t meet his eyes as she handed him his bag. 

Atem turned on his heel and strutted out of the store, head held high, just as quickly as he’d entered.

  
  


As soon as the store was out of sight, his shoulders sagged and he let out a breath. Putting a hand to his head, he swore. What the hell was going on?

  
  


__

  
  


The whole excursion had taken 60 minutes. Atem had thirty left to get dressed, but somehow, the thrill of challenge didn’t spur him on. Instead of changing in his room, he sought out Yugi.

He found him and, mustering up as casual a look as he could, greeted him with a, “Hey, could you help me with something?” Yugi perked up.

“Sure, partner!”

Atem led Yugi to his room and gestured to the bags at the foot of the bed. He cracked his knuckles as Yugi stood staring at him, a pleasant smile on his face.

“Can you… tell me if what I bought is okay?” Atem cleared his dry throat. “Seto wants to take me somewhere… nice,” he finished lamely.

Yugi winked at him. “Trying to impress Kaiba, huh? I’m sure he’ll love whatever you picked out.” Yugi walked over to the bags and opened the first to inspect Atem’s clothing. Atem cracked a few more knuckles.

Yugi pulled out the tunic, “This is a nice color-” and then unfurled it. The long skirt trailed below the top and Yugi held it up, frozen in mid speech. Atem shifted from one foot to the other. Yugi made a _noise_ at the back of his throat. Something between a choke and a gasp.

“This is… really something, Atem.” he said, his eyes roaming the tunic. He cleared his throat, shook his head as though shooing something away, and said, “Did they wear stuff like this back in Egypt?” Atem was hesitant to answer. Why had Yugi reacted that way? Had Atem done something wrong? Was the color off?

“Not quite as luxurious, but yes,” Atem said, not quite meeting Yugi’s eyes. Yugi sighed. 

“I figured.” 

Atem was silent. Why did Yugi sound… Resigned?

“It’s just…” Yugi bit his lip, looked around the room, and then focused his gaze on Atem’s. “This isn’t what, uh, guys… usually wear nowadays. I mean… people today would call this girl’s clothing. And, uh, I mean… It’s not really… other people don’t like it when guys wear girl’s clothes.” Atem grunted. He put on a neutral facade, but his insides were swirling.

How had so much happened since he’d last been alive? How had he guessed _so wrong_ about this century and what was “appropriate?” Gods, he really didn’t know _anything_ , did he? Without Yugi, he was lost, wasn’t he? How could he face the world, his other self, even _Seto,_ like his?

Yugi, clearly sensing Atem’s turmoil, waved his hands. “It’s not a huge deal, Atem! I mean, Seto loves you no matter what, right? So this is fine! It’ll be okay!”

Atem wasn’t listening. The damage was already done. If he couldn’t even shop for himself, then what chance did he have at understanding anything else? Despondently, Atem stumbled to his bed and sat down.

“Atem…?” 

Atem said nothing. Yugi tried again. 

“Atem?” 

“Please get out,” Atem said, barely audible.

“Huh?”

“Just… leave me alone right now, Yugi. Please.”

Yugi sighed, but Atem heard him leave the room nonetheless.

Atem gave up on his date with Seto with 15 minutes until Seto’s arrival.

  
  


__

  
  


When Seto arrived at the game shop, Yugi met him at the door. Seto raised an eyebrow.

“Hey, Kaiba…” Yugi started, eyes cast downward. “Uh, you might want to… try date night another time. Atem’s not feeling great right now.” Seto glowered.

“You think I’m going to leave for some stupid excuse like that? Atem should know me better than that.” With that, Seto pushed past Yugi and into the game shop. Yugi sighed behind him, and that was the last Seto heard from him.

Walking up the creaky stairs to Atem’s room, Seto barely stopped to wonder what could be throwing a wrench in their plans. If Atem was sick, he should go to a doctor, not wallow at home.

When Seto reached Atem’s room, he noticed there was no light under the door. Grunting, Seto knocked on the door. No answer. He opened the door.

  
  


__

  
  


When Atem’s door flew open, he was tempted to bury himself in his blankets just to escape whoever had come to check on his sorry self.

As Seto came into the room, frowning and looking around, Atem wished he had.

“You’re not sick,” Seto observed. Atem huffed, and an eyebrow rose on Seto’s forehead.

Without asking for permission, Seto knelt and looked through the bags at the foot of Atem’s bed. Atem leaped to stop him, but it was too late. Seto had already grabbed the red _mistake_. His eyes widened briefly before they narrowed into slits.

“Is this why we’re not going out tonight?” Seto asked, voice carefully neutral. Atem glared.

“And what if it is?” His voice shook more than he liked. Seto balled the tunic up in his hands and threw it at Atem, then went to riffle through the other bags. Atem squeezed the tunic to himself as Seto pulled out the shoes and makeup, shoving them in Atem’s direction.

“Put them on.” Atem stared at him. Atem wasn’t in the mood for games. Seto huffed. “Just do it, Pharaoh.” Atem scowled and stayed where he was. Seto’s frown deepened.

“Look, nice as it sounds, I don’t want to have to be the one to take your clothes off. So _go._ ” Seto pointed to the bathroom, and Atem hesitated. That… certainly didn’t sound like revulsion.

Slowly, Atem grabbed everything and shuffled off to get dressed. He felt Seto’s eyes on him the entire way.

Reaching the bathroom, Atem leaned his head against the sink. What the hell was going on…?

As if in a trance, he wrestled his clothes off and slipped into the red tunic. The feeling of it on his skin… He didn’t dwell. Next came the shoes, which he tied with care around his ankles. He walked out of the bathroom in a similar stupor and stopped. The lights had been turned on, and Seto was standing, arms crossed, in the middle of the room. 

Atem stared at Seto, and Seto stared back, appraising Atem’s outfit. His eyes narrowed. 

  
“What about the makeup?” Atem shook his head.

“I didn’t want it.” Seto raised an eyebrow, unconvinced.

“Yeah, that’s why you bought expensive eyeliner and lipstick. Because you didn’t want it,” he scoffed. Atem glowered at him and Seto stalked over and put a hand on his shoulder. He turned Atem around, despite Atem’s best efforts, and pushed him towards the bathroom again. Before the door closed, Atem heard Seto whisper, “Trust me.”

Atem blinked at the closed door. Trust, huh? Breathing out carefully, Atem nodded to himself. This was one challenge he could manage.

With as much care as his shaky hands could manage, Atem swept the liner around his eyes. He blinked in the mirror and bit back a smile. He looked… Like himself. Not taking his eyes off of his reflection, Atem reached for the lipstick. He applied it, and managed a light smirk. Atem was done. It was Seto’s turn to be tested.

When he walked out this time, Seto’s eyes widened instantly. He took in Atem’s appearance, and Atem was back in his element. He could more than handle a wide-eyed Seto Kaiba.

Atem strutted up to Seto and then looked himself over, forcing himself to be casual. He turned his eyes to Seto and tried for a smirk.

“Is it-” Atem could hardly get a few words out before Seto’s lips were on his, hungry and devouring. Atem almost reeled back, but Seto’s hand on the back of his head kept him in place. A breath later, Atem melted into the kiss, into the sensation, into the raw _emotion._

When Seto broke their kiss, he was panting. He swiped a thumb over his lips and when it came back red, he smirked. Turning his eyes back to Atem, Seto’s smirk only widened.

Atem, breathless and flushed and red all over, blinked.

“I take it... that means this is okay?” Atem asked, only half-joking. Seto rolled his eyes and pulled Atem into another kiss, this one slower and softer. 

Atem almost didn’t hear the “I love you” murmured between stolen breaths. He wasn’t exactly sure which one of them said it. It didn’t exactly matter.

When they didn’t make their dinner reservation, neither was upset. They had more important things to do.

**Author's Note:**

> Me? Projecting on fictional characters? Nooooo...
> 
> In all seriousness, I wrote this fic because, partially for personal reasons, I couldn't get it out of my head. I wanted to write a fic where Atem faces what it's like to not be exactly right, whether it's because he's living thousands of years in the future from his birth or because of his preferences. I also wanted to write him as someone who doesn't always know what he's doing and who gets upset when he "messes up." Atem isn't used to messing up, and that's important. Finally, I wanted to write Seto as someone who doesn't know how to fix every problem but still tries in his own way, with varying degrees of success. I think it's important in any relationship to know that your partner has your back, no matter what.
> 
> Anyway, sorry for writing something so heavy. Your regularly scheduled fluff will be back tomorrow, so stay tuned! Thanks for reading!


End file.
